Do you have an accent?

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Talking to his parents, my husband’s always slipping back into his mom and dad’s lingo—and hearing it makes me so happy! He grew up in the Pfalz region of Germany, his childhood home just 5km from the French border. The dialect there is soft and soothing and perfectly reflects the Pfälzer and their love for good food and wine. The Dutch would call it ‘gezellig’ or even ‘bourgondisch’.⁠

And to be honest, I do the same thing: talking Tyrolean with my brother, Carinthian with my granny, Viennese with my cousin. And that’s just 3 distinctive Austrian dialects.⁠

Pretty sure we’ve all heard a US actor tell a British or Australian colleague, “You sound funny”.⁠

You see, ACCENTS are not only a thing when learning a foreign language. They ‘happen’ all the time and everywhere. And you should never ever be ashamed of your accent. Here’s why:⁠

RICH CULTURE⁠

Our differences make life rich! Your accent tells a story. Ever heard of these DNA/heritage tests? Same thing with accents. My Austrian German started out with above mentioned 3 dialects plus some Slavik, Italian, and even Yiddish components (ask me why we call a turkey an ‘Indianer’). I married a German and started to integrate pronunciation and vocabulary from my husband’s vernacular. 9yrs ago, the two of us moved to the Netherlands and learned Dutch. Guess what? It even shows when speaking German now.⁠

Your accent is part of who you are; it makes you unique and exciting. You can always work on your pronunciation through practice, but don’t try to suppress your accent completely – what a pity that would be!⁠

WHAT’S NORMAL?⁠

‘Normal’ is overrated, and ‘normal’ is relative. Ask a Briton, and he’d tell you Americans have a weird accent. And someone from LA might have troubles understanding a Scot. By the way, do you remember how annoyed Stephen Hawking was because his computer-generated voice had a US accent? ;-)⁠

YOU’RE NOT STUPID⁠

Your accent does not reflect your intellect! Repeat after me: Your accent has nothing to do with your intellect!⁠

Communication is a tool.
You don’t need to sound like a native speaker.
You need to get your ideas across clearly and confidently — so clients, stakeholders, and teammates know exactly what you mean.

That’s what ‘The 25 Minutes’ session is for:

• Straight to the point. No fluff, no awkward roleplay.
• Just practical, one-on-one coaching to solve your biggest communication challenge at work.
• Learn how to stop translating in your head and start making your English work for you.

Ready to speak like the confident engineer you already are?

Book your 25 Minutes session now and let’s make sure your voice gets the clarity (and respect) it deserves.